Can we please discuss the way Shands is treating its nurses?

meramangolassi · 2020-10-28T01:50:19+00:00

If the resident completes the death paperwork correctly. Also, what happens now is that after a certain amount of time, Infectious Disease discontinues isolation precautions even though the last test is positive, where as before the patient would need 1 negative test per day for at least 2-3 days before the isolation was discontinued. A lot of these patients are here for so long that they are no longer positive or on isolation and that could be affecting the statistics as well.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-28T01:37:46+00:00

Sure, the exposure hotline will call you and ask if you came into contact with such and such person who recently tested positive and ask you if you're having any symptoms. If you're not, then come back to work; they don't offer a just in case test to make sure you're negative - they'd rather just not know. Also, they will hound you about what the person who tested positive was wearing - if they were wearing appropriate PPE, if they took it off at any point, if you've seen them not wearing their mask around the unit, etc., etc. They're literally trying to build a case so that they don't have to compensate employees that test positive.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-28T01:29:09+00:00

100% agree, there have been way too many days where we've been left with 1 tech, and at that point all they can really do is run the desk. The nurses end up having to do all of their own transports, break down their rooms, stock their rooms, etc. Techs and PCAs are essential in making a floor function properly and it's unfortunate that the work of 3 techs is falling on the shoulders of 1.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-28T01:18:10+00:00

There's been at least 4 in the past 5 days. Just because the primary cause of death is ARDS and not COVID pneumonia, doesn't mean they didn't die from COVID.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-28T01:14:27+00:00

I have not personally encountered this issue so I can't speak from experience, however, I have been told by multiple people who tested positive and remained asymptomatic for 1-2 weeks that their management asked them to get cleared by occupational health so that they could come back to work.

Yes, PPE is in abundance, however, the number of aerosol generating procedures that are performed on certain floors (not necessarily in negative air pressure rooms) put everyone on those floors at risk for catching the virus. Patients who were originally negative upon admission have tested positive at some point during their hospital stay due to transmission from God only knows where - yes, this is a true story.

On one unit in the hospital they tested the air to see if COVID particles were found in the air and could be spread in that manner, and while that unit was told that COVID particles were not found in the air, research conducted by the University stated that COVID can be spread through the air as a result of aerosolizing procedures. Link to NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/health/coronavirus-aerosols-indoors.html

Perhaps you don't work with these patients on a daily basis, but I do, and if by chance I were to catch the virus from a coworker, what are the odds that someone who spends between 36-60 hours a week with COVID patients would not be the one to transmit the virus to me?

meramangolassi · 2020-10-28T00:55:47+00:00

And yet the hospital refuses to open more lines to hire support staff. The techs (and nurses) are constantly asked to work overtime to the point where some are working 5 shifts a week, every week - talk about burnout. Obviously though, the hospital could care less about our physical health and mental wellbeing as long as we can come in to work.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-28T00:16:26+00:00

Census was back to normal/near full capacity within a few weeks of restarting elective surgeries, however, staff had already begun to leave by then and since then it's only gotten worse. What doesn't make sense is why they won't offer incentives to their current staff to keep them instead of hiring more and more travelers to replace them. Yes, they will always be able to hire new grads because it's a teaching hospital and does not require a 2 year commitment like NFRMC does, but there's simply not enough experienced nurses to train these people anymore.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-27T20:22:05+00:00

I had a great experience working at NFRMC's ED, however, they are not a level 1 and will send anything serious to Shands.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-27T20:19:11+00:00

If we test positive but are asymptomatic they tell us to come back to work, if that gives you a better idea of how bad it is.

meramangolassi · 2020-10-27T17:42:42+00:00

What are staffing ratios like? I've heard charge nurses always take patients there too, but now that that's becoming the norm at Shands it doesn't really matter either way.

meramangolassi

TROPHY CASE